


collision

by silkscrub



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, One Shot, This is bad but it's also mean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26034097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silkscrub/pseuds/silkscrub
Summary: What if Miles didn't survive the collider's explosion?
Relationships: Jefferson Davis & Miles Morales
Comments: 4
Kudos: 68





	collision

**Author's Note:**

> I am sorry.

For just a moment, everything was going to be fine. Jefferson had seen Spider-Man escape from the Kingpin. He had seen the massive machine switch off. He had felt gravity shift and the earth shake beneath him.

Glass shards flew everywhere. Jefferson thought he might die, the force was so strong. His attempts to survive would be almost entirely in vain—no one else was there, so no one else was vulnerable to the danger. The city was already saved. The city was saved by Spider-Man.

That vague feeling of relief stayed with Jefferson even as he flew backward tens, maybe hundreds, of feet, his entire body useless as it tumbled. It was like a comet burst in front of his very eyes, a glimmering spectacle, and the last thought that he registered before completely resigning to death was that all in all, he was glad Spider-Man would live, and not him. The city needed Spider-Man. And the kid deserved to be needed.

After that moment, everything was backwards. Jefferson found himself alive—a surprise made not-so-pleasant by the realization that things weren’t as linear as he had hoped. Of course they weren’t linear. Superheroes are never linear.

He didn’t know how he suddenly knew Spider-Man was Miles, but he did. Sometimes he thinks back on it and it still perplexes him, the blind power of the instinct. He had never seen Spider-Man without his mask. He had no reason to believe his normal kid was a superhero. But he still knew, after that explosion.

Well, maybe it wasn’t just the explosion that changed everything for him. Maybe it was shock. Maybe it was delirium. Maybe it was karma for hating Peter Parker. Maybe it was seeing Aaron’s body, dead and armored in superhuman gear, that had prepared him to expect what he would see next. It was a conditioning.

Jefferson freed himself and caught his breath. He put a hand to his chest and felt his heart pound. He was very much alive—too alive. He looked around, registered his surroundings, a ravine of rubble and decay. The silence was fading fast as emergency vehicles approached and the scene unfolded into a crime scene, and dizziness gave way to dread.

Then he saw the body: prone, broken, incapacitated from the impact, left to collect ash as it fell like snow.

The explosion had at first seemed like a gift—everything wrong was being corrected. Peace and justice were being restored. Of course it needed to take down Spider-Man with it. Someone needed to lose.

Still, Jefferson didn’t know for sure if the kid was Miles, even as he rushed forward, metal wreckage creaking beneath his feet; he still didn’t know if that was true. Doubt was the only hope he had left. Forget all of his petty resentments, it still didn’t have to be his son under there.

He pulled off the mask and _of course_ it was Miles, of course it was. The untimely events of the last few days crystallized into fate and became nothing, hours of frustration melted

“Miles, it’s your dad.”

Miles blinked a couple of times, half-awake. His face was covered in blood.

“Hey,” he said, smiling.

Jefferson had seen people dying before. He knew the tells, the lightness, the confusion. Happy faces that betrayed an ugly fate.

“I-I love you,” Jefferson said immediately. “You’re okay.”

“Hmm--I missed you,” said Miles, softly. He leaned into his father’s hand and closed his eyes.

There were helicopters above them now. Jefferson fought tears as the world began to steal their last moment together. He held Miles’ hand and Miles exhaled, exhausted.

“I’m so proud of you. You turned off the machine.” Jefferson spoke, louder.

Miles just nodded again, his eyes still closed. He shifted a little bit to get more comfortable. Voices were calling from above, now, much louder, but Jefferson could faintly hear his son’s deep, ragged breaths.

“You did great.” Jefferson didn’t know what else to do other than reassure him. He wasn’t brave enough to say anything else to his dying kid. “You saved everyone. You saved strangers. You saved me and your mom. You’re the best there is.“

Miles just squeezed his hands, the last bit of strength he had to offer to the world, he offered to his father. 


End file.
